The Seoul High Court says it will aim to issue a verdict on the appeals trial of Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, who was found not guilty in February in a controversial Samsung affiliate merger case, before the end of January. 

The court unveiled the plan on Monday during the second preparatory hearing in the trial of Lee who was acquitted earlier in February of stock price rigging and accounting fraud connected to the controversial merger of two Samsung affiliates--Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T-- in 2015. Lee was also found not guilty of false disclosure and accounting fraud related to Samsung BioLogics.

In the first formal hearing set for September 30, the court will review evidence related to the Seoul Central District Court’s ruling that materials obtained in the raid of servers of Samsung BioLogics and Samsung Bioepis in 2019 were illegally collected. 

On October 14, the high court will deliberate on alleged accounting irregularities and on October 28 and November 11, on alleged Capital Market Act violations in Lee’s case.

On November 25, the court will go over in detail the prosecution’s charges against Lee.